People Change
by Mick M. T. H
Summary: Sansa wondered when she and Jeyne stopped being friends... Note: I Own NOTHING!


ASOIAF: Modern!AU

People Change

Summary: Sansa wonders when she and Jeyne stopped being friends

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Sansa never expected to see her there. She wondered if Robb had invited her, or maybe her mother, but that was the last thing on Sansa's mind. The moment their eyes met from opposite sides of the room, Sansa felt like a deer caught in the headlights. She also felt very guilty, because that was the first time in years she actually thought of the girl who used to be her best friend. The girl who she played dolls with in nursery school. The girl who she held hands with as they went door to door selling Girl Scout cookies, shy and scared of strangers and their parents following behind them at a distance. The girl she used to whisper and giggle with about that little son of a bitch Joffrey back in their early days of middle school. Sansa didn't know what to say or do when she saw Jeyne Poole for the first time in nearly eight years.

She averted her gaze in a different direction, suddenly finding the hockey game the men and boys were watching on TV rather entertaining. It did nothing except make her feel guiltier, as she can feel Jeyne's eyes on her. But Sansa refused to meet her gaze again, and instead seated herself beside Meera, her brother, Bran's friend and crush. The slightly older girl turned to her and smiled, and started a conversation that Sansa only paid half-attention to. Something about how one of the hockey players on the television screen would be a great addition to their home team, the Winterfell Wolves.

Later, when the game was almost over, and Sansa was sure that Jeyne is no longer looking at her, she got up telling Meera that she's thirsty. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth. In actuality she wanted to try and sneak a red plastic cup of alcohol from the refreshments table to calm her nerves. Sansa was on guard as she made her way through the crowded living room, casting wary looks around the room, fearful for running into her long-lost-best-friend. Along the way, she ran into Loras, who was thankfully not in the company of his sister. Sansa wasn't exactly all that crazy about Margery anymore. But Loras was nice enough, and his brother, Willas, too.

"Sansa, where have you been hiding?" Loras asked. He was obviously a little tipsy.

"Oh, Loras! N-nowhere; I was just watching the game with Meera. She had some interesting things to say about one of the players." Sansa said. She hoped he did not notice her nervous tone. He didn't, thankfully.

"Yes, all those players are _quite _interesting." Loras said drunkenly with a little waggle of his eyebrow. Sansa wondered, not for the first time, how the heck Loras didn't trip her gay-dar back when they first met. Then again, he was in the closet back then, and not nearly as flamboyant until he came out after his and Renly's famous breakup. Very public, very ugly. By the end of it, Loras was heartbroken and Renly was dead to him. Deserved it, too, using Loras' sister as his beard and all. It was a shame, many girls complained when he came out. Sansa would admit she was one of those disappointed girls. But the upside was that at least Loras was really nice to talk to about things like fashion and boys. He even helped her pick out her prom dress and was, to say the least, enthusiastic about Sansa and Willas spending lots of time together lately.

"If you think they're interesting, you should see the guys that hang out at my friend Mya's work." Sansa replied with a mischievous grin. Randa really had corrupted her mind. "That indoor rock climbing place down in Eryie?" Loras asked with a sort of excitement. "No, no! It's on the way _to_ Eryie. Right past that night club, Club Royce. Can't miss it." Sansa explained, becoming more relaxed. She had almost forgotten why she was even so nervous when she spotted a forbidding sight over Loras' shoulder. All her anxiety suddenly flooded back into her.

"Um, excuse me, Loras, I've, um, got to go, um, use the little girl's room!" Sansa stammered as she hurriedly made her escape. With many 'excuse me's and 'sorry's, along with elbows and side-steps, Sansa forced her way through the crowd until she finally escaped the living room and out into the foyer. With a sigh of relief, she then took the stair two at a time until she reached the second floor. She fast walked down the hall to her bedroom door, slipped inside, and locked the door behind her. Finally, she thought with relief. But then she realized where she was.

Sansa cursed herself for her choice of sanctuary. Ever since she returned home, Sansa found no comfort in her childhood bedroom. The room was basically a large time-capsule, sealed years ago. It was frozen back in a time she really didn't want to remember. The walls were a hot pink color she had taken a liking to when she was eleven, thinking it was more grownup than its previous shade of light pink. The room was a mix of the girly little princess she once was and the young lady she was trying to be eight years ago.

Everything seemed to be pink and frilly, yet at the same time, there were signs of the previous desire to grow up she once had, like the many various make-ups that cluttered her vanity counter still, unused for years now, and the posters on the walls of boy-bands and celebrities she used to worship like gods back when they were still relevant in pop culture. Half the faces on the posters were washouts now and the fact she used to secretly kiss most of their images due to her girlish crushes made Sansa want to crawl in a hole and die. At least there weren't any pictures of Joffrey hanging on the wall. Since she had come home, the only thing Sansa had changed in the room were the clothes in her closest after she had donated all her old clothes to charity.

Long ago, it all made her feel like one of the princesses from the fairytales she loved so much as a child to have such a room. And when she started changing things to be more "mature", she felt like she was one step closer to being everything she ever wanted. She wanted to be the prettiest, most popular girl in school who dated the cutest, coolest guy and ruled the school. Now, Sansa found it all so stupid and naïve. She was a whole different person now.

Sansa no longer strived to be the most popular or the prettiest. She didn't care as much about what others thought of her—being self-conscious only caused her trouble. She was quieter. She wasn't all that shy anymore, though, or concerned about cute boys, and as said, her friend Randa had certainly corrupted her. With the help of others' before her. She was hardly the same person. The person she was now would be more comfortable sitting out back with her legs in the pool, smoking a cigarette—Randa really had corrupted her—than in this room right now.

Sansa was just about to turn around and leave the room to do just that when someone knocked on the door. Sansa froze, and stayed silent, praying the person would just leave if they thought no one was there. Instead, they knocked again, and when she refused to answer, a barely familiar voice called, "I know you're in there, Sansa." Sansa's heart skipped a beat, and for a moment, she wondered if she could just continue to act like she wasn't there. But she knew she couldn't. Not without hurting Jeyne.

Sansa opened the door, revealing Jeyne on the other side. They stood in awkward silence for a few moments, taking the other in. Jeyne had changed, Sansa noted. Her hair was shorter now, and she had certainly grown of course, since they were eleven. She was still shorter than Sansa, however, who had always been taller than average for a girl, standing currently at 5, 9. Jeyne couldn't have been more than 5, 4 or 5, 5. Sansa was saddened to find what looked like dark circles under Jeyne's eyes. She looked so worn and tired.

"You changed your hair," Jeyne pointed out first. Unconsciously, Sansa's hand flew to her now brown hair. "Yeah, I did…" Sansa explained sheepishly. "How does it look?" She asked shyly. "Nice." Jeyne replied with a small smile. "Want to come in?" Sansa asked, making room for her to enter. Uncertainly almost, Jeyne entered Sansa's room, and the door clicked closed behind them.

Sansa watched as Jeyne's eyes scanned the room, and then she turned her dark eyes on her and said, "It hasn't changed." She said this with another smile. Sansa suddenly felt a knot form in her stomach. "Take a seat, I guess." Sansa said as she hesitantly sat on her bed. The swish of the waterbed made her uncomfortable. Why did she even get a waterbed? She asked herself and for life of her could not remember. Jeyne sat down right next to Sansa, and—though she hated herself a little for it—it made Sansa even more uncomfortable.

Another awkward silence settled between them until Sansa finally spoke.

"So what have you been up to?" She asked. "Well, um," Jeyne stammered for a moment. "Not much," She said at first. But then after a pause she sighed heavily and continued, "Actually, I've kind of just…got out of therapy." She explained. She looked embarrassed and Sansa felt sorry for her. She shouldn't feel bad about that, she thought.

"I was in therapy for a little while." Sansa said. It wasn't a lie; in fact it was probably one of the most impacting experiences of her life. Jeyne didn't believe her however it seemed.

"You don't have to lie for my sake. It's just embarrassing is all. I'm actually thankful for my therapy." Jeyne said, stretching out and lying back on Sansa's bed, the water bed swishing beneath her. She picked up one of the plushies on the bed. "I gave this to you." She whispered and then held it close to her chest like a child.

"Trust me; therapy is actually one of the better things I've experienced in the last few years. After you went off to that boarding school, I kind of fell in with the wrong crowd and ended up with this bad guy named Ramsay. It was terrible. Thank god I had Theon," Sansa gasped. "Theon?" She nearly screamed. Jeyne sheepishly nodded. "Yeah. We became friends, you could say." Her blush indicated otherwise, but Sansa said nothing. Instead she only gaped. "But…it's Theon. He totally backstabbed my brother in college, remember?" She questioned. But Jeyne was quick to defend her new friend. "And he feels really bad about it, too! Trust me, Sansa, he's not that bad…at least not as bad as Ramsay." Sansa reluctantly nodded, though Jeyne did not change her mind about Theon in the least. "Thankfully, when I finally did leave Ramsay, I was granted a restraining order by the courts. Which, of course, he violated. He's now in prison." Jeyne continued her tale.

She seemed to brighten a little at the mention of her ex-boyfriend now being in prison. What girl wouldn't? "After that, I felt really safe, but I still went to therapy. I really wasn't the best state back then. I got out of it shortly before graduation. Now I'm in university down south. I have classes with Margery Tyrell. She's the one who invited me here along with her brother after she found out we were friends. She said we should see each other again." Sansa suddenly felt the urge to get up, go outside, and set the rosebushes in the garden ablaze. Margery probably thought she could score points with the Stark family by reuniting Jeyne and Sansa, thus getting in good with Westeros City's most popular family as of the moment. Instead, she had only succeeded in creating a very awkward situation for Sansa.

"Now what have you been up to?" Jeyne asked. Sansa wondered briefly what to say. "I don't know what really to say except that I've been changing. I don't know how else to describe the last few years. I mean, after we separated, my life was a total mess, but things have gotten better." Sansa answered. Jeyne looked at her as if she were a foreign creature. "You must have really changed then." She says in a tone that surprised Sansa. It sounded as if she was being accused of something.

"The old you I'm sure would be giving every single detail of the last eight years in a fit of tears, whether it was good or bad what happened." Jeyne sat up and gave her a reproachful look. "You told me everything. Now you only say that you've changed, as if it weren't obvious, to spare me the details of whatever has happened to you." Jeyne looked at her as if she was disappointed in Sansa.

Sansa didn't really know how to react for a moment, and when she did know, she simply got up and went and sat by the window. She unlatched it and slid it open. She glanced up to make sure Jeyne was watching and she was. Sansa hesitated then. Seeing Jeyne sitting her on her bed, holding an old plushie she had given her years ago, Sansa remembered all the times they used to just sit in this room for hours, talking, giggling, and playing.

Sansa pulled a pack of cigarettes out of back pocket along with a lighter. She lit up right there and took a long drag. Across the room, Jeyne looked shocked for a moment before understanding of the message Sansa is sending came over her.

"You really did change." Jeyne aid as she got up. Sansa took another drag and replies, "You did, too." Jeyne nods in understanding, and Sansa knows she really does. She turned away as Jeyne left the room, the door clicking shut behind her. When she was done with her cigarette she flicked it out the window and slid it shut.

She's just about to leave the room when she realizes that Jeyne took her plushie with her.

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**A/N: Sorry, this is my first fanfic for Game of Thrones/ASOIAF. **


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